Erised: I show not your face
by Snow Glows Blue
Summary: What various Lord of the Rings characters would see, looking in the Mirror of Erised.
1. Sauron

When Ilmare has finished laying her magic, Mairon looks into the mirror he has created. He claims, to himself and to others, that it's to see whether it works properly; in truth, he is curious.

The reflection is of himself in his forge, surrounded by things of beauty, things he has created that will make the world better.

Mairon smiles and sends the mirror on its way.

* * *

The next time he sees the mirror, he isn't Mairon. He is in Middle-Earth, his name is Sauron, he is the lieutenant of Melkor, and he has done things that to Mairon would be unthinkable.

He knows what he will see: himself, with the world at his feet. Second only to his lord and lover.

But Sauron looks in the mirror anyway.

He sees a man, a few inches shorter than himself but with the same slim build, same blonde wavy hair, same dark eyes. He's smiling in the mirror, soft and gentle, and Valinor is in the background.

He sees Mairon.

* * *

The mirror is too well-crafted for Sauron to break.


	2. Aragorn

Aragorn has never looked in the mirror.

He isn't particularly avoiding it; he just doesn't care. Aragorn would rather achieve his heart's desires than look at them.


	3. Arwen

When Arwen is a child, the mirror shows adventure.

As she grows older the adventures get bigger and bigger, more and more vivid. And Arwen imagines them, when she's bored or annoyed, imagines herself as a great hero.

When she meets Estel the adventures don't stop. He joins her, but does not rule her.


	4. Elrohir

The first time Elrohir looks in the mirror, his twin is with him. It's just a mirror, nothing more.

The second time he looks in the mirror, he's alone. But the mirror shows him and Elladan both.

* * *

As they grow up the twins have adventures. Both come back home.

They find their mother, broken by the Orcs. All three come back home.

The twins go on Orc-raids together. Both come back home.

They journey through the Paths of the Dead with their youngest brother. Both come back home.

Until one day, Elladan doesn't.

* * *

Elrohir returns to a mostly-empty Imladris covered in blood both red and black, Elladan's body limp in his arms.

For three days he keeps a silent vigil over his brother, but on the forth day he collapses sobbing into Celeborn's arms.

Two days later he rides alone to the Grey Havens to sail.

* * *

The image in the mirror, the reflection of the twins together, doesn't change.

* * *

Notes: For George Weasley and Elrohir Peredhel, every mirror is the Mirror of Erised.


	5. Legolas

Legolas has been to Imladris before, but never on his own.

He is completely and utterly lost when he finds the mirror. He almost leaves - this is not the room he is looking for - but a flash of green catches his eye and he looks into it instead.

Mirkwood - no. Not Mirkwood, the Greenwood, for it is pure and living. There is no shadow, no Necromancer.

The mother he barely remembers, alive. The younger sister he wishes more than anything he could have saved, laughing as he holds her. The father he has tried all his life to please, embracing him with warmth in his eyes. Himself smiling; he does not have to work for love, does not have to hide and guard his heart.

_Lies. Do not forget that they are lies. Love is never given freely, it must be earned._

They are such beautiful lies. Legolas is sorely tempted to keep watching.

But they are lies nonetheless. He leaves the room, and does his best to forget about the strange mirror within it.


	6. Thranduil

Thranduil is on a diplomatic visit to Imladris when he comes across the mirror. It's in a tucked-away room near the back of the building, and he wonders what it is.

"Lies."

His father is dead. In the mirror Oropher smiles, expression warmer than it had ever been in life.

There is a shadow over his realm. The reflected forest is bright and healed and whole.

His wife is dead. Lannian's arms are wrapped around his waist, lips curved into a gentle smile.

His daughter is dead with her. Elluin talks enthusiastically to her older brother, both of them perched in the branches.

His son is cold and heartless. Legolas's eyes shine, and his voice is full to bursting with love.

This mirror, however enchanted, tells nothing but lies.

But-

They are such beautiful lies.


	7. Erestor

Erestor avoids the mirror at all costs.

He has worked out what it does, from the inscription (and he can't believe nobody else has figured that out. It's a _mirror,_ of course the writing is backwards.) He knows what the people he live with and work with see there.

He also knows his heart's desire. And so he never goes near the mirror: To see it, and not be able to have it - not even be able to reach for it - would break him more than he is broken already.

It is better as it is. Erestor knows this.

* * *

Only Erestor knows what he'd see. I'm not telling you, because I don't know.

Not for lack of trying on my part, of course. But Erestor is more stubborn than the bastard child of Thorin and Feanor, and if he doesn't want you to know something, good luck finding out.


	8. Elrond

The first time Elrond sees the mirror, he's lost in Maglor and Maedhros's house.

Instead of his own reflection, it shows him and Elros, together with their parents and their new guardians. Elrond turns, but there's nobody behind him.

After a few more minutes he leaves the mirror and tries to get un-lost. But he remembers, and at the back of his mind he wonders.

* * *

Elrond next sees the mirror in Imladris, his new home. He's not sure how it got there - if he had to guess, he'd say Maglor delivered it - but his attention is focused on the reflection.

Ereinion has joined the group, one hand on Elrond's shoulder.

His eyes well up with tears, and he reaches up to his right shoulder where Ereinion's hand should be.

Maglor is the only one in this reflection who isn't long dead.

* * *

He watches the mirror for hours after Celebrían sails.

* * *

Since their births, the mirror has shown his children. But until Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, his tears were never for them.

* * *

"Elrond?" He looks away from the mirror to see Gildor standing behind him. "It's time to go. We should leave now, if we want to get there before the ship leaves." Elrond nods, stands, walks away. Except for his reddened eyes he looks regal and calm.

On his way out the door Gildor glances at the mirror, to see if he was wrong. He wasn't.

He shrugs. Gildor isn't sure why his lord spent two and a half hours sobbing in front of an ordinary mirror, but he won't pry.


End file.
